CSCE 121: Introduction to Program Design and Concepts
Selected anonymous remarks from previous offering of this class:
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I thought the course was fair and definitely needed the recommended 3 hours of studying for 1 hour of class a week. I was learning my second language so this might not be totally accurate, but the class covered the language being taught, the programming norms, and logical thinking very effectively. A person with no coding experience would find the class hard...
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I have definitely learned a great deal more than I expected through the course of this class.
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I really enjoyed Dr. Shell's class and I can honestly say that his lab assignments helped me learn more in this class than I have in any other class. The way he designed the course provides a strong foundation for computer science. One complaint I have heard though is that it is too intense for those who are not computer science majors.
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I did not keep up with the lab assignments, I expect I would be doing better if I had.
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Labs are used as a main method of teaching in this course. I agree that the best way to learn how to code is simply to code. However, as soon as one got stuck during these labs all the learning stopped. Some labs had helpful hints that would get you going and guide you but this seemed to disappear as the labs got more difficult and harder to start. Besides the little help a TA or a question in class could have, you were mostly on your own to figure out the lab. So if you simply couldn't piece it all together, you were out of luck.
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Labs are extremely helpful. Self discipline is required for success in this class.
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My TA is wonderful. There are not many people who regularly attend my lab section, and those that skip do not know what they are missing out on. My TA often helps me understand the material from class and helps me get through the labs.